Grrr i need help

[BizarroSephiroth]

Anyone good at physics here. Just answer one quick question......if you can that is:

How is energy conserved by a roller coaster while it moves along the tracks? At which points does it gain and conserve the energy?

I need help for a school lab report and don't really know how to describe this. thx!!!!!!!!!

[blackmage_nuke]

Everyone knows roller coasters are powered by love and Happy thoughts!

[BizarroSephiroth]

Im serious its for school.................:rolleyes2

[DeStyle]

Energy is not really "conserved". EDIT: I ment that not ALL of the energy is conserved :P.

A cart goes down, with speed, then goes uphill again. However
the force pushing the cart up again is lower than the force the
cart aquired while going downhill. Therefore a cart will never drop
down and end up higher than the point from which it was dropped.


The rollercoasters try to maintain as much speed/force as
possible (so that the ride goes faster) this is done by reducing
the friction the wheels of the cart make (if there was no friction
the cart would land at the EXACT height it got dropped from),
less friction means less decrease in speed per meter.

I would answer something along the lines of this:

"Rollercoasters gain speed while rolling downhill. As much
energy as possible is conserved by having the least friction
possible between the wheels of the carts and the rails
of the rollercoaster."

[Leeza]

*moves to Help*

[rubah]

Um, yeah energy is conserved. It's called the conservation of energy :p

A roller coaster is started and as it moves it has kinetic energy. As it rises to the top of a curve, it slows down as the energy is turned into potential energy. At the top of the track, it has the maximum potential energy because it's as high as it will go. Potential energy is measured relative to a zero point in height. As the roller coaster is pulled back down by gravity, the potential energy is converted back into kinetic moving energy and the coaster speeds up as it gets lower to the ground zero-point.

basically you have a little balance with kinetic energy hanging down on one side and potential energy on the other, strung over a pulley. When kinetic moves down, potential moves up.

[Endless]

To add to the above, it gains energy at several points through the ride, most notably at the start (it's pushed/pulled to the first hill, where a belt/chain pulls the train all the way up the first hill. When the train's center of gravity passes the apex, it starts rolling on its own (it has accumulated potential energy). If the ride's long, you may have more than one belt to pull the train up. You can also have boosters during flat/small small upslope sections to add to the kinetic energy. Also, very often, when the train gets near the park zone, it is slowed down by brakes.
Also, in the case of roller coasters, it goes like this:
Downhill: Potential energy -> kinetic energy + friction + drag
Uphill: Kinetic energy -> potential energy + friction + drag

Which is why you never go back as high as you started.

Edit: forgot drag, my bad. :D

[Discord]

Downhill: Potential energy -> kinetic energy + friction[...]
Uphill: Kinetic energy -> potential energy + friction[...]


That's pretty much all you need, IMO.

[Mirage]

And because there friction, some energy will leave the system in form of sound and heat. And sound is just kinetic energy anyway :p.